Keynote Speakers

Martin Knapp is Professor of Health and Social Care Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), based in the Health Policy Department. He is also a Professorial Research Fellow in the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre (CPEC; formerly PSSRU) at the LSE. Since 2023, Martin has been Programme Director for the Research Programme for Social Care, part of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in England. From 2009 until 2024, he was also Director of the NIHR of the School for Social Care Research. Martin's main research interests are in the areas of social care (often called long-term care), child and adult mental health, dementia and neurodiversity. Much of his work uses economic arguments and evidence to inform policy discussion and influence practice development. His research has had wide-ranging impacts on policy and practice in a number of fields.

Professor Shirley Ho is Associate Vice President (Humanities, Social Sciences & Research Communication) in the President’s Office at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. She is also the President’s Chair Professor in Communication Studies in the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at NTU. Prof Ho is an elected fellow of the International Communication Association for her distinguished scholarly contributions to the field of communication. She is the recipient of the Hillier Krieghbaum Under-40 Award, conferred by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication for outstanding achievements in research, teaching, and public service.

Her interdisciplinary research focuses on cross-cultural public opinion dynamics related to science and technology, with potential health or environmental impacts. Her research is instrumental in understanding how human values, media, and other advanced modes of communication shape public attitudes toward emerging science and technologies. Notably, her works were among the first to recognize the importance of heuristic cues or information shortcuts when it comes to how the public make decisions about emerging science and technology.

Prof Ho’s research has been funded by numerous large competitive grants in Singapore, such as the National Research Foundation, AI Singapore, the Ministry of Health, ETH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, and the Ministry of Education. She has given numerous keynote talks and plenary speeches at institutions such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Tsinghua University. Prof Ho has served on expert panels for the US National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the World Health Organization, and other professional bodies.

Professor Kristján Kristjánsson's research orientation can best be summed up as that of Aristotle-inspired philosophical scrutiny of theories in educational psychology and values education, with special emphasis on the notions of character and virtuous emotions. He has written extensively on themes in general education, moral education, educational psychology, moral philosophy and political philosophy, and sees himself essentially as a bridge-builder between philosophy and social science.

Kristjánsson is the author of Social Freedom: The Responsibility View (C.U.P., 2006), Justifying Emotions: Pride and Jealousy (Routledge, 2002), Justice and Desert-Based Emotions (Ashgate, 2006), Aristotle, Emotions and Education (Ashgate, 2007), The Self and Its Emotions (C.U.P., 2010), Virtues and Vices in Positive Psychology (C.U.P., 2013) and Aristotelian Character Education (Routledge, 2015), the last of which was voted the best research monograph in Education in 2015 by the British Society of Education Studies. Kristjánsson has published over 100 articles in international journals and has recently taken over as editor of Journal of Moral Education.

He has been a Visiting Fellow at Cornell University, University of Konstanz, St. Edmund’s College (Cambridge University) and Institute of Education (University of London). In 1997, he was elected the Young Humanities Scholar of the Year by the Icelandic Council of Science, and in 2011 he was presented with the Ása Guðmundsdóttir Wright Award, the most prestigious scholarly award given annually to an Icelandic academic across the Sciences and Humanities.

Professor Gert Biesta is Professor of Public Education in the Centre for Public Education and Pedagogy at Maynooth University, Ireland, Visiting Professor at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences in Norway, and a Fellow of the British Academy. Until the summer of 2025, Professor of Educational Theory and Pedagogy at the Moray House School of Education and Sport of the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on the theory of education and the theory and philosophy of educational and social research, with a keen interest in national and global education policy, curriculum, teaching and teacher education, democracy and citizenship education, religious education and education and the arts. He has published widely on these topics in articles, chapters and books. So far his work has appeared in 21 different languages. Since 2023 he is a member of the Educational Council of the Netherlands, the advisory body of the Dutch government and parliament. From September 2020 until December 2022, he was a member of the Scientific Curriculum Committee in the Netherlands, which was tasked with advising the government about the redevelopment of the curriculum for primary and secondary schools. He is co-editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, and associate editor of the journal Educational Theory.

Dr Tanearned his Ph.D. in Instructional Systems from Pennsylvania State University in the U.S.A. He holds the prestigious Provost Chair in Education and currently serves as Associate Dean at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, where he oversees leadership development and teacher professional learning. Over his career, Dr. Tan has developed and taught a diverse array of over 20 courses, spanning from undergraduate to doctoral levels. He is also the author of university textbooks, including “Technology for Meaningful Learning” and “Teaching and Learning with Technology.” Dr. Tan has conducted workshops and delivered invited talks in numerous economies, including Australia, Canada, China, Dubai, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. He has been working at the nexus of emerging technologies, pedagogical innovations and classroom impact. His research in education aims to push the boundaries of teaching and learning innovation, securing over S$6 million in competitive research grants. His investigative work includes innovative pedagogical applications with emerging technologies, such as computer-supported collaborative learning, artificial intelligence in education, immersive learning environments, learning analytics, eye-tracking glasses for teacher noticing, mobile peer tutoring, and knowledge building. Dr. Tan has shared his research findings extensively, including more than 78 journal articles, 62 conference proceedings, 40 scholarly book chapters, 5 scholarly books, and 28 keynote presentations to his credit.

In addition to his academic contributions, Dr. Tan has taken on various professional service roles, including serving as an editorial board member for journals such as Instructional Science and reviewing for Tier 1 journals like Computers & Education. He has been active on program and organizing committees for numerous international conferences. In Singapore, Dr. Tan has held several leadership positions, including Assistant Director in the Ministry of Education, Co-Director of the Centre for Research & Development in Learning, Associate Dean for Institutional Analytics and Research, and Associate Dean for the Office of Graduate Studies and Professional Learning.